Only One End
by OneOfMillions
Summary: Because after all that has happened, there really is only one way all of this can end. In which Naruto and Sasuke clash.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Rating: **T

**Author's Note: **My contribution to the Naruto fandom. Feel free to leave criticism.

* * *

**Only One End**

_What do you say to someone who stands against everything you believe in?_

Uzumaki Naruto is born a jinchūriki, trained as a shinobi, but he is of Konoha as surely as the sun rises.

Uchiha Sasuke is born a shinobi, trained as an Avenger, and more than anything he wants Konoha to burn.

Polar opposites.

That's what Kakashi-sensei had called them once. Opposites in every sense of the word.

Sasuke fights with supreme efficiency, each motion calculated, precise, and all the deadlier for it. Naruto simply _fights_, his instincts serving him better than most kata.

Where Naruto is exuberant and cheerful, Sasuke is silent and brooding.

Where Naruto actively seeks as many friends as he can gather, Sasuke scoffs at the idea, for an Avenger needs no friends.

It is inevitable that two people with such fundamentally different personalities will clash.

Somehow, though, they understand each other.

He's exhausted, and his limbs are quaking with weariness, but Naruto still puts a smile on his face. "Do you remember, Sasuke?"

His only answer is a glare from across the water. Naruto expected as much, but he can't stop the sigh from escaping his lips. The sound seems to be amplified by the arch of the bridge behind him.

"Once, you told me that truly great shinobi don't need to speak to each other. They do all the talking they need to with their fists."

Sasuke doesn't stop glaring, and Naruto notices that his eyes aren't so black anymore. He wonders what made them that way, but keeps speaking. "Now, I think I finally understand what you meant back then."

He pauses when the Uchiha snorts, then erupts into manic laughter. "What, _Naruto?_ You really think that you can ever understand me? You think that you're _strong enough?_"

Naruto merely clenches his jaw, and Sasuke takes that as some kind of confirmation.

There is nothing more to say.

With Kakashi and Sakura frozen behind Naruto, an unspoken signal drifts in with a breeze.

Naruto and Sasuke don't move until the wind stops blowing.

Then they're gone, tearing across the water faster than bullets. Their clothes are whipped with the speed of their motion, and water vapor stings their skin as they race alongside one another.

One brandishes a sword, and the other a kunai.

Still sprinting, they slash and parry with increasing ferocity until each blow leaves the receiver reeling. After a particularly powerful blow from Sasuke's snake sword, they stop as Naruto skids back in the water.

There is a lull in the battle, and the two warriors stare at each other again, their eyes saying far more than words alone could ever convey.

Then Sasuke's eyes narrow, Naruto grimaces, and the two rush into combat.

Sasuke's strikes are enough to put any normal jōnin in a grave with a single hit. His snake sword crackles with lightning, and the keen edge of the blade whistles as he slashes the air again and again.

But this time, he's sure he has won. With a roar, he sweeps his sword in a devastating arc.

The air is all he hits.

Naruto somehow dodges Sasuke's blow by twisting to the side, the blade's unforgiving edge passing harmlessly past his torso. Time stands still for a moment as Sasuke deals with the shock that he _missed_, and Naruto finally realizes why Sasuke's eyes are a muted grey instead of pitch black.

The world unfreezes, and Sasuke snarls with frustration and rage.

Naruto may be stubborn, but he knows when he needs to retreat.

And when he sees the back of his former teammate's throat glow a cherry red, there's no question that now is such a time.

He turns and leaps onto the face of a riverside cliff. His feet barely touch the stone when he looks up, and the world is filled with fire.

Naruto's legs tense, and suddenly he's twenty feet away, watching as the fireball slams into the cliffside and scorches the stone with its heat.

There is no time to rest, as Sasuke spits jutsu after jutsu, all aiming for him.

Naruto grits his teeth and _dances_, weaving through the bolts of flame like it's been rehearsed. Seeing that his attacks aren't working, Sasuke stops.

Then chakra surges through his legs, and he _leaps_, hurtling straight for the orange-garbed shinobi.

It takes mere seconds for him to see Naruto barreling towards him as well.

Growling, the snake sword readies in his grip, and Naruto does the same with his kunai.

The blades clash, and Sasuke's sword cuts straight through Naruto's weapon, catching him off guard. Naruto stares at his useless stub of a knife, then gasps as the wind his shoved right out of him.

After Sasuke's foot plants itself firmly in his stomach, he _flies._

He manages to roll to a stop at the top of the cliff, desperately gasping for air.

_A shinobi is always on guard._

The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and he jumps back as Sasuke's sword passes through where he was just a moment earlier.

Slash after slash he dodges, unable to truly fight back due to his lack of a weapon. Slowly but surely, after dodging a barrage of slashes, Naruto finds himself backed up against the edge of the cliff.

There is nowhere else to run, and nothing to defend himself with.

Sasuke smirks at Naruto's desperation, then he throws everything he has into one final blow.

The sword is _humming_ with pent-up energy from channeling the Chidori for so long with no release. This strike is something that can't be dodged, and Naruto knows it. He doesn't turn away. In the background, he can hear Sakura screaming his name.

_'Sakura-chan . . .'_

Click.

That's the sound of ivory against steel. Naruto has caught the sword with his teeth.

Sasuke's eyes widen and his mouth opens in utter disbelief, and Naruto turns his head and gives a mighty heave.

The Uchiha is hurled straight off the cliff and in to the water, sword and all. He goes so fast that he bounces off the surface of the water once, twice, until he manages to flip himself upright and skid to a stop.

Naruto drops down in front of him, his landing causing a series of ripples.

Their expressions are grim as they draw upon the immense power they both hold: a lightning blade against a spiraling spear.

An unspoken command sets them loose, and they clash and their jutsu collide.

Time loses its meaning.

They find themselves somewhere else, somewhere away from the river. A place with white walls and white floors: white further than the eye can see. It's in a dwelling of the soul more than anything else.

The two teens stand there, staring at each other.

"Can you see, Sasuke? Can you see what's in my heart?" Naruto's voice is tired, on the edge of breaking.

There is no answer. Naruto knows that doesn't matter. Not one bit.

"I can see you, you know. I see _you_, and I understand." Naruto stops talking, and for a moment the silence threatens to swallow them whole.

"You could _never_ understand." Sasuke's voice is firm in his denial, unyielding, but he can't fool Naruto. Not now.

The blond merely chuckles softly at his ex-teammate's answer. "You're still saying stuff like that, even now."

Without preamble, Naruto walks forward until he's next to his teammate.

"Do you really have to continue down this path?"

Sasuke merely gives him a cold, Sharingan glare. Naruto snorts. "Oh, who am I kidding? Of course you do."

The Uchiha says nothing, merely observing the blond beside him with a cautious sort of curiosity. Naruto sighs and throws his hands behind his head. "You know I have to stop you when you come. I can't let you kill anyone from Konoha."

Sasuke's glare tightens, and his anger flares. Who was Naruto to tell him any of this? What does _he_ know?

Naruto continues, "When you come, take all of your hatred, every bit of it, and focus it on me."

Sasuke can't hide the shock on his face. But then, in this place, he can't hide anything. Neither can Naruto. The blond gives him a side-long look: the same kind of look he had given him during the infiltration of Orochimaru's hideout. It's a staggering gaze, one that pierces all defenses and homes in on the soul.

"After all, I'm the only one who can bear the burden." Naruto turns away, and Sasuke can't stop staring. "But you already knew that."

He did.

* * *

Haruno Sakura has a routine.

She gets up at precisely five in the morning, brushes her teeth, takes a shower, and goes straight to the hospital for her rounds.

Over the years, she has become used to the fast pace, the lively atmosphere. Her actions have direct consequences on whether her patients live or die.

It gave her a sense of purpose, doing this every day. Closing the hole in one man's chest, reattaching a woman's arm, unblocking another woman's throat. These were the things she could do. These were the things that she knew.

At five in the afternoon, Sakura leaves the hospital. She takes a different route from the other medics every day without fail, going out the side instead of through the front. Kakashi-sensei always waits for her. He never fails to greet her with a 'Yo!', a finger salute, and a lazy smile.

They walk together, talking about nothing important. It distracts them, and distractions help.

They always stop their chatter when they arrive at the monument.

It's a great, onyx statue, erected six years ago. Two wild-haired men tower over the field. One has a sword buried in his stomach, and the other a kunai in his throat. The Konoha headband is noticeably absent on one of the men.

The inscription at the base reads: _In memory of a true hero, and of what he has done for us all._

_Rest in peace, Uzumaki Naruto._

Even after six years of visiting every day, Sakura can't stop her heart from ripping in her chest. She lets out a choked sob, then begins to cry.

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**Post-script:** _What can I say? I like bleak stuff._


End file.
